Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

“Um…” Lina’s cheeks flushed slightly. “Brother Caesar is so young, it’s not appropriate to call him uncle…”

"I understand..." Fan Xiao didn't mind the girl's not-so-pure thoughts and asked casually, "Who do you think is better, your father or your brother Caesar?"

"Caesar is stronger."

Just then, a slightly lively voice came from behind Lina.

Melissa, the younger sister, came out of the kitchen, glanced at Fan Xiao and the hooded girl, and said, "This is what Dad told me himself. Every time he sparred with Caesar, he lost more often than he won."

"Is it……"

Fan Xiao noted down the intelligence, then got down to business, asking, "Do you know what exactly this Hell invasion is all about?"

“A hell invasion is a hell invasion,” Melissa replied. “Killing the monsters inside will stop the world from being destroyed. Isn’t that common sense? You’re all mercenaries, don’t you know that?”

"I know. I just have a slight doubt."

Fan Xiao guided the discussion with the question: "Why didn't your father, and your brother Caesar, stop Hell from invading?"

"With their capabilities, resolving this shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

"Isn't stopping Hell's invasion your job as mercenaries?" Melissa's little face was full of confusion. "What does this have to do with Daddy and Brother Caesar?"

"..."

Fan Xiao sighed inwardly and didn't press the matter further.

He had experienced this once before in Silver City—a resident of the dungeon would subject the player to all sorts of logical abuse when it came to the "Hell Invasion" incident.

Trying to correct someone's contradictory perceptions is like casting pearls before swine.

He had assumed that Carmen's daughter, being a key figure in the dungeon, would know something different...

After giving up on pursuing the matter, Fan Xiao asked other questions: "Your father just left you here like this, wasn't he afraid you would encounter danger?"

“It’s okay,” Lina explained. “Dad hasn’t told anyone about our existence, and… he said he’d be back tonight.”

"night……"

Fan Xiao suddenly remembered the game warning "Extremely dangerous at night" and couldn't help but ask, "Is there any danger at night?"

"Danger?" Lina was taken aback. "No, why would you ask that?"

"Just asking," Fan Xiao said, giving an example: "Like... do monsters from hell come out at night and attack humans?"

"I've never heard of such a thing." Lina shook her head: "The monsters in hell have never left hell."

"Then... has anyone ever been to hell?" Fan Xiao asked.

“No,” Lina replied, “stopping the invasion of Hell is your mercenary mission, it has nothing to do with anyone else, right?”

“…Okay,” Vanshaw said, “have you ever heard of the ‘Grave of Guilt’?”

"The Tomb of Guilt?" Lina replied, "Never heard of it."

"Are there any graves around here?" Melissa's face fell. "Where are they? We...we have to avoid them."

"Oh, I was just kidding, it didn't happen."

Fan Xiao casually offered a word of comfort to the little girl.

I've basically gotten all the questions I needed to ask.

The result was regrettable.

The exact nature of Hell Invasion remains unclear.

It's as if a basin of ink has been splashed on a perfectly painted scroll... Hell and this dungeon world are somewhat incompatible, their styles don't match, and they haven't even appeared in the dungeon's background description.

what is going on……

Fan Xiao asked the two sisters some more detailed questions, but after not getting the answers he wanted, he called up the panel and checked the time.

It's almost 6:30.

The time he agreed with Neilong and the others was to reunite in Longxi Village before seven o'clock to exchange intelligence.

time to go.

Fan Xiao and the hooded girl exchanged glances, then said goodbye to the twin sisters and left the cabin.

On the way back, the hooded girl remained silent.

"King Caesar... that's a bit too much."

As she walked, she suddenly murmured to herself.

Fan Xiao ignored him.

About two minutes later, the hooded girl exuded an even colder atmosphere.

"..."

This guy is really arrogant. He wants to talk to her but doesn't say it directly. He's waiting for her to take the initiative to talk to him... Fan Xiao was speechless. On the surface, he maintained his smug expression and said, "What, you guessed that King Caesar stopped King Carmen's revenge two years ago? Not bad, you're quite clever. Hehe... I like it."

Ignoring the teasing remarks, the hooded girl asked, "What do you think about this?"

"Heh, trying to get validation from me?"

Fan Xiao curled his lip and deliberately sang a different tune: "What makes you think that King Caesar went too far? He was protecting humanity from the slaughter by the Demon King and upholding order. What did he do wrong?"

"Some people are not worth protecting."

The hooded girl glanced at Fan Xiao and said in an icy voice, "A pervert is a pervert. In your eyes, it's not excessive for the True King Caesar to stop his own friends' revenge for the sake of strangers?"

"Ha... You're ignoring the historical context when discussing right and wrong, huh? Can you compare Caesar's worldview and understanding, based on his own era, to yours?"

Fan Xiao said with a hint of disdain, "When I have time, I'll tell you two stories. One is called 'The Water Is Too Cold,' and the other is called 'Itchy Scalp.'"

"Mysterious."

The hooded girl ignored Fan Xiao and focused on getting on her way.

Chapter 418 A "Strange" Night

When Fan Xiao and the hooded girl returned to Longxi Village, they discovered that the four cannibalistic players, including Nei Long and Jin Lian, had already returned.

Besides them, the six players from Obsidian City, plus the couple from Silver City, were also standing at the entrance of Longxi Village, waiting.

The players were somewhat surprised to see Fan Xiao walking with the hooded girl.

However, no one asked any further questions.

After Fan Xiao approached, Nei Long stepped forward and said, "There is indeed a fixed entrance to hell over the lighthouse on the Longxi coast. After we went in, we verified the details you described, and they all match up."

"However... that place was too big, and there were too many monsters. We didn't stay there for long, so we didn't find the bodies of the players who died inside."

"Those monsters...were truly terrifying!"

In the Obsidian City player group, the handsome young man put away his playful demeanor and said in a serious tone, "Their size isn't actually that large. Their size alone doesn't pose a fatal threat to us; at most, they're a bit difficult to deal with."

"The main threats are their regenerative abilities, their numbers, and that bizarre ability to guide flesh and blood mutation... well, the latter is the most threatening!"

"Not long after I went in, my arms and legs were covered with all sorts of strange organs, some human, some animal, and some monsters whose original forms were unrecognizable... At that time, my consciousness began to become chaotic, and I felt like I was about to fall into a complete sleep. If we hadn't left, we would probably be one of them now."

At this point, he guessed uncertainly, "Those monsters...could they all be people...or players transformed?"

"Who knows how many times this dungeon has been opened? Maybe the monster army in hell is a collection of all the players who died in the past?"

"How many people must have died?" The young man with the samurai hair frowned. "When we went in before, I saw a huge horde of monsters, covering the entire land. There were so many that I couldn't count them all!"

"Perhaps it's not just players, but also humans."

Neilong guessed rather wickedly, "The Celestial Race seems to have a stance of protecting humanity, but the Demon Race doesn't, right? Perhaps the Demon Race's ability is to turn people into monsters?"

"How is that possible? We all saw Carmen's reaction when she confronted the true king Caesar. She doesn't seem like a monster who would slaughter ordinary people."

"Maybe he's two-faced? He wants to stop the war, right? Maybe he turned the rioting troops into monsters and threw them all into hell?"

"You're being far too idealistic. If Carmen the Demon King were to cause such a commotion, how could he possibly keep it from the true King Caesar? The Celestial Race isn't just for show."

The players began to discuss freely.

*Clap*—Fan Xiao clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to him, and said, "The reason for the birth of the hellish monsters is not important to us at the moment. Let's focus on the next extermination plan."

"Don't worry, although there are many monsters in hell, they are scattered and it will take time for them to come together."

"In addition, the monsters are so huge that the number of monsters we will face in a unit of time and space is limited. As long as we act together and there are many targets, we can share the damage caused by the monsters. In this way, we can last longer and survive until we successfully defeat the true king Caesar. There should be no problem."

"That depends on Caesar's recovery ability," the handsome young man reminded him. "If his health bar is too thick, we'll be the first to give up."

"The monsters don't just attack us."

Fan Xiao reminded him, "Once Caesar the True King goes in, he will likely be the target as well."

"At that time, we will use multiple props to bind him to the spot, making him a live target, while we move around flexibly. I believe the outcome will be decided soon."

"Um... OK."

The handsome young man nodded.

In addition to the items that are always equipped on their person, C-rank players usually keep a few items with special functions for use.

Among them, items with binding functions are considered one of the popular backup items.

With 14 players now, even if they don't all have it, it shouldn't be a problem to put together a few items.

However, such assumptions were not acceptable... The handsome young man immediately checked with everyone.

He was relieved to learn that he could gather five binding items.

"What if the campaign fails?"

At this moment, the young man with the samurai head asked, "The expedition failed, and we've offended King Caesar. Aren't we doomed?"

"So far, the true King Caesar has only killed players... or rather mercenaries who have attacked ordinary civilians."

Fan Xiao grinned and said, "You can take a gamble. Bet that even if you, who have never killed anyone, attacked Caesar the True King, he would at most teach you a lesson and wouldn't kill you."

“How is that possible?” the samurai head said. “Unless he is some kind of saint.”

"I think it's quite possible, and the possibility is not small... Of course, that's not what I meant."

Fan Xiao snorted and said, "What kind of perfect plan is there that can cover everything? The punitive expedition plan is a gamble from the start!"

"Whether you choose to face the unknown dangers of the next seven days alone, or take a gamble and gather your strength to defeat the true King Caesar, the choice is yours. As for the consequences... you shall bear them yourself."

"Ha... White-name players are cowards. Opportunities are right in front of them, but they don't even dare to fight for them."

Neilong let out a sneer.

The samurai leader's face darkened: "You don't need to provoke me. Although I've agreed to cooperate, I won't completely listen to you."

He raised his right hand and said, "Everyone has a '7' on the back of their hand. When the number reaches zero, a person dies. I think this is probably the crisis that corresponds to the 'Survive for Seven Days' dungeon quest."

"Today is the first day. We haven't encountered any danger that would reduce our numbers. It's hard to say whether the survival mission or the mission to eliminate the true King Caesar is more difficult."

He paused for a moment, then made a request: "How about we wait until after 3:20 pm tomorrow to take action?"

"Why do we have to wait so long?" Jinlian asked, frowning.

"Hehe, you're quite clever. By 3:20 pm tomorrow, we'll have had a full day to enter the instance."

At this moment, Fan Xiao looked at the samurai head and suddenly chuckled.

After laughing, he explained to everyone, "He has two purposes. First, he wants to wait a day to see if he encounters any dangers that could reduce the number on the back of his hand, and to assess the level of such dangers. If it is less dangerous than defeating the true King Caesar, then he will abandon the plan to attack."

"The second one... as you've probably noticed, the number '7' on the back of our hands corresponds to our survival days. It's very likely that the number will decrease by one every day. What we need to do is find a way to stop the number from decreasing during this period."

"He suggested waiting a day to test whether the number on the back of his hand would really decrease by one after a day, and... whether any useful clues could be found during that day. If nothing could be found and the number had decreased, then they would stop being distracted and focus on carrying out the extermination plan."

"You're quite the schemer, aren't you?"

Uchiryu glanced at the samurai head, then frowned and said, "If we're going to take action, I suggest we do it now. The game warns that nighttime is extremely dangerous; who knows what we might encounter? Waiting another day... are we courting death?"

“Let’s decide by voting,” Fan Xiao suddenly said. “I vote in favor.”

Upon hearing this, Neilong glanced at him in surprise, but still insisted on his opinion: "I vote against it. If we're going to take action, let's do it now!"

"I agree."

"I object……"

Soon, the voting results came out—9 to 5.

It seems that more than the unknown dangers yet to come, the players are worried that the fight against the true king Caesar will result in a total wipeout.